The elephants may have arranged themselves perfectly for the shot but that's not the only reason I like it so much. For a start, like all good pictures, it required patience. When we first saw the herd they were away to our right, resting from the heat in the shade of a large tree, but we knew that they would come down to the water, which was to our left - it was simply a question of how long we had to wait.
In the event it wasn't long, but what made the picture was that, as the small herd crossed the road, one of the cows - I assume the matriarch - turned and threatened us. It wasn't a serious threat but what it showed was the sad state of the herd. She's a young cow to be a matriarch; she's lost a tusk; the herd in general is young; and none has good ivory.
Mikumi's elephants, like so many all over Africa, have been severely poached. They seem to be recovering but it may be years before the park once again sees herds with old matriarchs with big ivory. So this picture sums up the state of African elephants while, at the same time, offering hope.
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